Friday 5 July 2019

Summer Safe Skin

Now that we're finally getting a bit of sun this summer (don't want to jinx it) it means we're sitting out on our lunch breaks and in beer gardens and all of our limbs exposed, so it's time to get the bottles of fake tan and suncream at the ready. During May I got a press release about it being skin cancer awareness month and I thought of this blogpost I wanted to write to first of all raise awareness about skin cancer and the importance of suncream but secondly recommend sunless tanners for those of us who just burn. So it may be two months later but here we are, summer safe skin. 

I guess I'm more conscious about suncream and all that jazz because I'm so incredibly pale as in see through ghost sort of pale. In September I sat out in college for half and hour and got burned, this is the level of pale I am. Because of that I'm constantly bathing myself in suncream and making sure I'm covered in the stuff during the summer months and I just rely on fake tans to give me that glow. 

Suncream creates a barrier between your skin and the sun's UV rays and these rays can damage and prematurely age the skin and increase your risk of skin cancer. A myth about suncream is that it stops tanning, it doesn't. It creates this barrier for the UV rays but doesn't affect your levels of melanin which is how your skin tans, so even if you're wanting to sit in the sun to tan it is incredibly important to be wearing suncream. 

You should actually be wearing spf everyday even if it's cloudy, especially on your face. This is why most moisturisers have an spf in them. I switched moisturisers in the last few months and the new one that I'm using doesn't have an spf in it so I had to find a good facial suncream. 
Suncream usually leaves quite a shine on my face so I wanted to find something suitable for oily skin. 
After a hell of a lot of research and recommendations from friends I went with the La Roche Posay Anthelios XL Anti Shine suncream. I heard great things about the ones from Vichy and Clarins too and Lidl are doing a mattifying sun cream which could be a great cheaper alternative too. I love the La Roche Posay one because it really is mattifying, doesn't feel like anything is on the skin when it dries in and I trust it not to break me out. 
So now onto fake tans, I'm going to chat about my favourites and they're all quite natural looking. Nothing too dark or not easy to apply or streaky because I'm a huge fan of a natural looking easy glow.
The first one is probably a classic in anyone's books and that's the Dove Summer Revived Gradual Tan. This comes in two shades and doesn't have a really strong tan smell. It adds a really light buildable glow that's natural and easy to throw on. 
A slightly darker gradual tan would be the St Tropez Gradual Tan Watermelon Infusion which I am loving at the moment. It smells amazing, is easy to apply (would recommend using a mitt) and has a gorgeous colour that develops over 48 hours. 

Another one from the watermelon range is the St Tropez Self Tan Watermelon Infusion Bronzing Mousse which would be the actual tan version of the gradual tan. This again smells great and is so easy to apply. I was afraid it would be too dark but is slightly darker that the gradual tan when you put on a light layer which I love. You do have to shower off the guide colour for this one but it's great for a gorgeous glow that will last. 
The last tan recommendation is the St Tropez Bronzing Water Face Mist and I'm still in the trying out phase of this product. I always have the tanned neck and white face so I'm testing this out to see how my skin reacts to it and so far so good. It has a really light mist to it and I did use a brush to blend it in once sprayed just in case it developed in water droplets. It came out a really nice natural colour which is something I appreciate so I'm looking forward to trying this out more. I've heard the SoSue Dripping Gold Wonder Water is great too so definitely one to check out. 

Because I'm talking all about tan I should mention some tan removers because we all know the struggle to scrub the remaining tan off to either put another layer on or to fix mistakes. I would recommend sticking with the same brand as the tan you're using, in this case the St Tropez Tan Remover Mousse as the tan remover is formulated to remove their tan specifically and in my opinion that would work best. I've also tried out the Bondi Sands Self Tan Remover and I was a big fan of that too. 

And the last recommendation to top off your tan on your legs and collar bones is the Sanctuary Spa Precious Oil Body Oil. This oil not only smells divine but has a gorgeous rose gold sheen while it moisturises your body, what's not to love? I love adding something shimmery to my shins and collar bones for a night out or occasion just to add an extra but of glow to the skin. 

So there we have it, bronzed but protected summer skin. A little reminder to: please wear suncream, make sure to keep an eye on your freckles and moles and get them checked if you spot any changes whether it be in colour, size of texture. Hope you enjoyed this post, 
Ailbhe x 
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1 comment

  1. This is a great post! Though I am not a huge fake tan enthusiast recently I really want to try one as it would be nice to get a little more sunkissed without having to get another foundation to match. I use suncream every day on my face, the Boots own brand is fab and has rave reviews by skin experts and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg.
    Róisín
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